The question

What they are looking for

This question seeks to find out what you do when things get difficult during
a situation of conflict. Variants on the question might put you in the conflict
or you as a bystander or manager who has to sort it out.

It looks first at your
emotional response, and whether you retain
control or fall into an
automatic response such as
fight-or-flight. It
then looks for how effective your strategies are at controlling others who are
in an emotional state and whether you can successfully mediate to an acceptable
conclusion.

How to answer

First pick a situation that shows your ability to handle conflict. Be careful
to use an example where you are not the antagonist. Also beware of making you
appear as being treated as a victim by others. Unless you are asked for a
situation where you were in conflict with another, it is safer here to use one
where you were mediator.

Recently, the IT Manager and the Marketing Manager have been
niggling at one another, which has disrupted and distracted the business
strategy meeting. It was clear that they were unable to resolve it between
themselves so I decided to intervene.

Then show that you are in control of yourself. Use a situation where many
people would become emotional, where you can demonstrate your
emotional
intelligence.

They started shouting at one another at last month's meeting
and would not stop, so I stood up and shouted 'Look at that!'. It got their
attention and in the pause I brought them down by lowering my voice and asking
if we could talk openly about this. I brought in the rest of the team and
facilitated an open dialogue session. When they realized the affect they were
having on others, they agreed to be more considerate.

Show also that you can resolve the conflict, not just put it off or otherwise
'win the battle but not the war'.

I spent time with each of the afterwards, drawing out their
differences and similarities. When I had found the real root issues, I brought
them together to help find a lasting solution. They are now on good terms again.